From the December issue: Upper Fifth Avenue (the portion between 49th and 59th streets) is the most expensive retail stretch in the world. However, it’s not the most stable. This past year, the strip saw an unusual amount of activity taking place in its 60-plus spaces, with about a dozen retailers signing leases, opening stores or changing brands.

The half-mile span, where CBRE Group says asking rents average more than $2,400 per square foot, is now jammed with holiday shoppers jostling for gifts.

But behind the scenes, there are other groups jockeying for position: the real estate brokers, dealmakers and analysts who pore over pedestrian counts, comparable leases and store revenue numbers to determine what spaces they or their clients can afford.

This month, The Real Deal looks at the current tenants in the nearly three dozen retail buildings along the stretch, as well as possible new arrivals. We combed through property records and news reports, and interviewed brokers and owners who specialize in Fifth Avenue. [more]

From the November issue: New York is, of course, the shopping (and eating) capital of the country — if not the world. But what do the latest concerns about a double-dip recession mean for the countless stores, restaurants and shops packed into Manhattan?

In this month’s Q & A, The Real Deal talked to Manhattan retail brokers about how the retail market — which tanked in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown — is holding up.

Brokers said they are seeing strong rents and activity in prime areas like Fifth Avenue, Time Square, Soho and the Upper West Side. But, they say, secondary and tertiary submarkets are hurting, with continuing declines in asking rents and increases in vacancy rates. [more]

Luxury watch and jewelry retailer Wempe signed a long-term lease at 665 Fifth Avenue last month, public records filed yesterday show, just two blocks south of another location it has had for decades at the Peninsula New York.

Wempe, the German manufacturer and retailer of jewelry and watches, inked the 15-year deal at the 12-story building at the corner of 53rd Street, owned by watch wholesaler Rolex, on Sept. 16, the public records show. The lease includes seven months of free rent until payments begin May 2012, the document filed with the city, known as a memorandum of lease, says.

Wempe will occupy 1,600 square feet on the ground floor and 1,277 square feet on the lower level, in space formerly occupied by flashy retailer Just Cavalli. The asking rent for the space began at $2,200 per foot and rose to $2,400 per foot, sources familiar with the deal said. The store is expected to open in time for holiday shopping, sources said. The actual rent was not disclosed. [more]

The 57-year-old privately held commercial advisory firm Studley entered the lucrative Manhattan retail leasing market for the first time, tapping Patrick Breslin, an executive in Grubb & Ellis’ retail operations, to lead the new East Coast division, the company announced this morning.

Michael Colacino, president of Studley, said the firm is adding retail in New York City because it believed it could profit by providing additional services to existing clients that have retail operations as well as earn relatively high commissions paid on retail deals.

This is not the first retail operation for Studley, which has store-leasing agents in Los Angeles, Washington and Chicago, but it is seeking to create a cohesive operation throughout the country. [more]

Clockwise from top left: Howard Dolch and Robin Abrams, Lansco; Gary Alterman, Robert Futterman, Ariel Schuster of RKF (credit Amanda Marsh); Joanne Podell, C&W; David Green, C&W; Natalia Macias, Tishman Speyer (credit Adam Pincus); Cherri Nanninga, CBRE; Gene Spiegelman, C&W; Mark Finkelstein, Retail Strategies (credit Adam Pincus); (center) Robert Futterman, RKF; (r.) Benjamin Fox, Massey Knakal (credit Adam Pincus)

Robin Abrams and Howard Dolch of Lansco received the award for “Most Creative
Retail Deal of the Year” by the Real Estate Board of New York last night for their
representation of discount stores Filene’s Basement and Syms Clothing in opening a
new flagship location at 530 Fifth Avenue in Midtown.

Robert Futterman, Gary Alterman and Ariel Schuster of Robert K. Futterman &
Associates received a prize for the deal that “most benefits Manhattan,” for representing
grocery store Fairway Market, which took a space at 240 East 86th Street in Yorkville.

The awards for the 2010 top retail deals were announced at a cocktail party at 101 Park
Avenue in Midtown. TRD
[more]

Lev Leviev is going head-first against Bowlmor Lanes in Times Square

Africa Israel plans to throw a counterpunch after a $32 million lawsuit from its biggest retail tenant, Bowlmor Lanes, which accused the struggling real estate conglomerate of dragging its feet on the buildout of a 70,000-square-foot space at the old New York Times building. Lawyers for the Israeli-based developer, led by billionaire Lev Leviev, said they will file suit in New York State Supreme Court alleging the Manhattan-based bowling alley chain is using some space it is not entitled to, and argues that it provided all the construction funds it was required to in a timely manner. [more]

The Palisades Center

From the January issue: The frenzy of the holiday shopping season is winding down, but malls across the region don’t expect a holiday hangover.

Mall leasing was up 38 percent in 2010 nationally, and rents were about 14 percent higher, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Sales jumped 7 percent in September from the prior year.

The ICSC estimates that the 1,200 indoor malls nationwide generate an average of close to $400 per square foot in sales volume, and brokers say the number in the New York tri-state area at high-end malls is more like $800 a square foot. And some even have waiting lists of stores looking to take space. [more]

Brokers anticipate a rise in foreign companies opening their first retail stores in New York City in 2011, increasing from the approximately dozen that debuted this year.

“I would say there are 20 to 30 brands that are actively looking and will potentially open next year,” Robin Abrams, executive vice president at commercial brokerage firm Lansco, said. She spoke about the trend of foreign retailers opening new stores in the accompanying video segment Insights from The Real Deal (see video above).

Brokers mentioned several retailers that were looking in New York, although most of them could not be confirmed. Possible new stores for New York City include Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti, both owned by the world’s largest retailer, Spain-based Inditex, which also owns Zara; British apparel firm Jack Wills; and French clothing maker Vanessa Bruno. Abrams said Swedish clothing store Polarn O. Pyret, which opened this fall in Greenwich, Conn., has been looking in New York City as well.

Beth Rosen, a senior director at retail brokerage Robert K. Futterman & Associates, said she recently returned from a trip to Italy to look for new stores that could be interested in opening in New York.

In addition, she met in New York with a shoe retailer based in Russia that has about 50 stores in that country and in Italy, but no American presence. The company hopes to open 100 stores in the United States over the next five or 10 years, but she would not disclose the company’s name.

And her firm is also looking toward Asian retailers as well.

“Our office is definitely targeting and calling these Chinese retailers and Japanese retailers to look for the next Uniqlo,” she said, referring to the brand opened by Japan’s largest clothing retailer Fast Retailing, which signed a blockbuster nearly $300 million lease at 666 Fifth Avenue this year. She said her firm is looking to other booming markets as well.

“Brazil is huge. Everyone is looking to Brazil for new retailers,” Rosen said.

Retail leasing agents said they no longer depended so heavily on Western European countries such as France and Italy to be the sources for new stores in New York.

“Australia is starting to look like a good training ground now,” Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of retail leasing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman, said, with companies such as clothing chain Cotton On, based there, considering a move here.

Some brokers want to encourage manufacturers or wholesalers to break into retail game in New York.

Michael Glanzberg, a principal at Sinvin Real Estate, said his office is representing about a half-dozen Chinese designers and manufacturers who are considering opening stores in North America, including New York.

“They feel they can skip the middleman and market themselves,” he said.
[more]

From left: Robert Futterman and 229 West 43rd Street; Chase Welles and East River Plaza; and Jedd Nero and 798 11th Avenue

The Real Estate Board of New York announced the nine contenders for its “Retail Deal of the Year” awards today, a competition that honors ingenious and influential real estate transactions (click here to see the full list of contenders). Included in the list was the controversial deal at the Times Square building at 229 West 43rd Street, through which retail brokerage Lansco claims it was cheated out of a $1 million commission. Robert Futterman of the eponymous firm represented the property owner, Africa Israel, in the deal and was named in the nomination. Other top deals submitted included the Costco lease at East River Plaza at 521 East 116th Street and the Volkswagen Group lease at 798 Eleventh Avenue.
[more]

From left: Lon Rubackin, Lev Leviev, Robert Futterman and Bowlmor’s new home at 229 West 43rd Street

An influential Manhattan retail brokerage, Lansco, claims it was cheated out of at least $1 million in commissions for arranging one of last year’s high-profile commercial deals, the 20-year lease by Bowlmor at the former New York Times Building in Times Square. Lansco alleges competitor GFI Capital Resources Group and Bowlmor’s parent company Strike Holdings conspired to cut it out of the deal for two floors at 229 West 43rd Street, which Lansco says was worth between $3 million and $4 million per year. The charges were leveled in a lawsuit Lansco filed April 28 in New York State Supreme Court against GFI and Strike Holdings, seeking at least $1 million as well as rights under renewal and extension clauses. “Strike and GFI conspired with each other to interfere with Lansco’s right to be the broker,” the suit says. The court papers do not provide a reason why Lansco was replaced. [more]